Chanttear: A Tale of Two Fairies who Fell in Love
by Talos Angel
Summary: A mysterious individual promises to pay Recette and Tear handsomely for obtaining a powerful artifact, but Chante and Elise seek it as well. Will the two parties solve the mystery of the topaz, or will they get in each others' way? Also, why is there a category for Fortune Summoners, but not for Recettear or Chantelise?
1. Chapter 1: Like any Other Day?

A.N: Hello, everybody. I have a billion stories out now that I need to keep working at, so why not start another?! This story came as a result of all the nice feedback for _Recettear: a Tear for You. _

Sadly, I no longer like that story, and don't like the direction it takes, so I decided to write a new story that crosses over _Recettear, Chantelise, _and _Fortune Summoners. _It will be very different from what the previous story would be like. Anyway...

CHANTTEAR: A TALE OF TWO FAIRIES WHO FELL IN LOVE

CHAPTER ONE: LIKE ANY OTHER DAY?

Recette Lemongrass sat at her counter desk, humming to herself as scores of customers flooded into the store, looking over the mint condition merchandise stacked upon cherry wood counters spread throughout the spacious store. A young customer with brown pigtails and gleaming hazel eyes brought a taiyaki treat to the counter, and looked up at Recette.

"How much for a taiyaki?" The young girl asked.

"1650 pix!" Recette chirped in her overly happy tone as she always did.

"That sounds great!" The girl squealed as she placed 1750 pix on the counter, "The extra 100 is a tip, so keep it!"

"Wow! Thanks!" Recette squeaked as her eyes shone as bright as the afternoon sun itself.

Tear sat watching the transaction from the other side of the counter. She grinned lightly, her head tilted downwards and away from Recette, her eyes becoming moist.

_A while ago, she would not have been able to even get a single thousand out of that, _Tear thought to herself, _Now I doubt she even needs me around anymore._

Tear watched on, nodding slightly as she saw Recette sell a number of other wares; a golden muffler to Louie (who should honestly spend his money on more important things,) some sake to Charme (as if she didn't have enough already,) and a cookie jar for the lady living across the street. Recette kept her cheerful grin as she dealt with person after person, pocketing enough pix to give the local nobles a run for their money...if she could keep it up. near closing time, Recette had nearly sold everything the store had, when one last customer approached Recette, with nothing in her hands at all. She was draped entirely in black robes that did not show ant skin at all, but Recette could clearly tell that she had a young-looking face, pointy ears, and a barely restrained chest that seemed to bounce out of sync.

"Hello, miss," The woman began to ask in a relatively charming-sounding deep feminine voice, "Could I place a request for an item?"

"Wh...what kind of item were you thinking of?" Recette asked apprehensively, slightly leaning backwards.

The woman pulled out a piece of paper, with a picture of a round, smooth topaz on it. "Something like this. But not just ANY topaz, mind you. I want a magical one; the absolute most magical one you can possibly find."

Tear turned her head to the stranger, and squinted as she shook her head. The strange woman sneered back at her.

"I'm not sure I can do that," Recette stated as she brought her hand to the back of her head, "I don't really know how to measure magical power in anything."

The woman pointed directly at Tear. "Fairies are magical. She can probably sense it." She told Recette.

"Even if I could sense something like that, I don't know why I would ever find something like that for YOU." Tear growled.

"Because I can pay you a hefty sum," The woman retorted, "Specifically, eight million pix."

Recette's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets, while Tear fell backwards at that remark. "I bet you don't even HAVE that much money on you!" Tear shouted back as she got up.

"Well, not ON me," The woman began to say, "But lookie here!" The woman waved her hands at the air, tearing a hole in reality. Both girls' eyes widened, and pupils shrunk as they saw an endless abyss of pix on the other side of the portal. The woman snapped her fingers, closing the portal just as quickly as it had opened.

"Now do you believe me?" The woman asked smugly as she grinned and raised an eyebrow.

"Well...that is a LOT of pix." Recette slowly responded.

"Recette..." Tear began to whisper, "I'm not so sure about this."

"We..." Recette began to draw out.

"Yeeeeeesssss?" The woman growled, leaning in even closer, raising an eyebrow.

"We accept!" Recette quickly blurted out, "When do you want it?"

The woman's smile grew so wide, it practically split her face asunder.

"I will monitor your progress. You will hear from me again when you obtain it." The woman vanished into a haze of dark purple mist.

"That doesn't sound creepy at all..." Recette mumbled quietly.

"Merde, Recette," Tear sighed, "That might not have been such a good idea. What if she wants to use that gem to spread destruction?"

"Don't worry, Tear," Recette chirped, "We've dealt with dark lords before, and nothing bad has happened yet. All is well that ends well!"

_Oh Recette, _Tear thought, _Even you still have a lot to learn..._


	2. Chapter 2: Homeleaving

A.N: One of my nieces called me the other day, since my sister is teaching her how to use things like the phone and computer. She told me that she's making something special for me. I can't wait! I bet it will be great! Anyway, you're here for the story, so here it is!

CHAPTER TWO: HOMELEAVING

Elise stood at the edge of a tower, staring off into the starry void that was filled only with stars and the enormous crimson moon that floated before her. She stepped forward a few steps, looking left and right, and seeing her older, but currently smaller sister Chante beginning to twitch and whimper.

"Sister! What's wrong?!" She wanted to ask, but absolutely no noise came out of her. She tried to shout her question again, just barely managing to squeak any sort of noise whatsoever. Behind Chante, she noticed two young girls with black hair and dark eyes. One of the girls tried to say something, but the only noise that came from her mouth was a howling, wintery wind that whipped and whooshed about.

"I don't understand..." Elise tried to say, but once again, produced no sound whatsoever. Chante cried out in a loud, screeching noise that could easily have shattered glass and eardrums alike. Elise hesitated, watching for an instant as a small tornado of sparkling, colourful gems came pouring out of the poor fairy sister's mouth. The swirling hurricane rapidly worked its way to the two young girls, ensnaring one of them. The girl let out a whisper-like cry as she vanished into the storm, the girl with her desperately squealing and thrashing her arms into the vortex.

...?!

"Elise! Wake up!" A familiar voice cried out, snapping Elise out of her dream world, and back into reality.

"Uuuggghh...I'm...up." Elise grumbled, lazily tossing the covers off of herself. She turned her head to the side, and her eyes widened slightly when she saw that Chante was already up, evident since she was not laying in the spacious area of the bed next to her. Elise looked around the room; it was the same old, wooden brown-walled bedroom that she had been waking up in for the past few years of her life, permeated only by a single, wide open window that flooded the room with sunlight during the day. She sighed, and then launched herself out of the bed, landing perfectly on her feet. Being already dressed in her day clothes, she went downstairs, running into Aira.

"Honestly, I'm surprised you keep getting up later than Chante," Aira cheerfully scolded, "You've really slipped up, you know."

"Sorry," Elise moaned with a smile, "I was just up late last night."

"Why?" Aira asked, her head tilted slightly.

"Well...I..." Elise slowly mumbled, pushing her fingers against each other.

"Can't sleep?" Aira asked, placing her hand on Elise's shoulder, "Afraid of something?"

"I had that dream again," Elise admitted, "That dream about the girls who came after me and Chante."

Aira frowned as she looked down at the ground. "Look, there's nothing that can be done about that." Aira bluntly stated, "Besides...With the Archfiend dead, the fairyfication should wear off."

Elise shrugged. "It's been years, and our sisters are still al small and fairy-like to me." She replied.

Aira sighed as she went to tend to the item shop counter. "Just have some patience, honey." She stated, pointing to a broom next to the staircase. Elise reluctantly took the broom, and started to sweep the dusty, tan stone ground beneath her.

"I'm just worried about Chante," Elise told Aira, "She doesn't want to be a fairy forever, you know."

...

The ancient shrine in the Ignan ruins lay dark and lonely; the air was stagnant and the kilograms of dust lay caressing the unlit walls and ceiling for who knows how long. This dark abode had just begun to glow from the side, however. The glow became brighter, and brighter, and brighter, before...

BOOM!

The wall off to the side of the abode came crashing down in a burning burst, flames still enveloping bits and pieces of rock that crashed into the dusty ground. An enormous grey cloud shot out from the grotto, right into the faces of the two fairy girls who had just blasted it open.

"Aww geez!" Chante shouted, coughing and wafting the dust away from herself, "Someone really needs to hire a maid or something!"

Elma merely huffed ash she whirled her hand around, creating a small gust that blew the rest of the dust away from the two of them. Chante and Elise slowly opened their eyes, gazing into the grotto that they had just opened up. The shining light from the outside world shone upon the still partially dusty cave. The cave has odd ridges on the sides; ridges that were shaped into strange symbols resembling letters or numbers unrecognizable by many modern readers.

"How the heck did you know to look here?!" Chante asked, using her wings to blow away the last bits of dust around her.

"A bald, jolly friend of mine taught me how," Elma bluntly responded, "But that's not important now that we've blown it open."

Chante tilted her head sideways as she and Elma entered the abode, and began to examine the runes alongside the wall.

"And what the heck is this stuff, anyway?" Chante asked somewhat loudly, "Some sort of ancient graffiti?"

Elma squinted as she ran her fingers along the side of the wall. "No," Elma replied, "This is...something...written in chaotic."

"Oooohh." Chante responded, "So in other words, we can't read it."

"Actually, YOU can't read it." Elma retorted, "I, however, have studied the language for years. Y'know...while you were busy learning how to blow things up better."

Chante rolled her eyes, and waved her hand a bit. "Do you know what any of this says?" She asked impatiently.

"You barely even gave me a chance to start reading it," Elma sighed, "But from what I can see so far, it IS about fairies."

Chante folded her arms and sat in the corner, sighing as she did so. "Yeah yeah...Just tell me what it says when you're done." She mumbled.

Chante found herself drifting off to sleep as Elma brushed her hands alongside the walls, mumbling and whispering slightly as she squinted her eyes.

After a few hours had passed, Chante felt a nudge wake her from her peaceful, dreamless sleep.

"Wake up," Elma ordered while nudging Chante, "I figured out what it all means."

Chante blinked groggily as she yawned, stretching out her arms. "Does it say why we are still fairies after all these years?" She asked half-heartedly.

"Actually, yes." Elma responded solemnly.

"Wait, really?!" Chante asked excitedly, grabbing Elma by her shoulders, "Tell me! Tell me, already!"

Elma lowered her head so that Chante could not see her face.

...

"So, In other words, It won't wear off by itself," Elise stated, swallowing a bit of air.

"Correct," Elma replied solemnly, looking away from Chante, "I...I'm so sorry, Chante..."

Chante bit down and slammed her small fists into the table, quivering slightly. Elise put her hand on Chante's head, and caressed it gently, whispering something completely inaudible.

"You didn't say it couldn't be reversed period," Aira pointed out, "So there must be SOMETHING you poor girls can do.

Elma shrugged, shaking her head. "Chaotic is very hard to translate, even if one has studied it for years. It said something about a stone...but I don't know what it means by that unless I can find a better way to translate it." She responded.

"Stone?" Elise asked, looking up, "You mean...like an elemental stone?"

"What a load of baloney!" Chante hissed pessimistically, "I've worked with those for most of my life, and I haven't ever seen one turn a fairy into a human before."

Elma scratched her chin as she sighed. "It's possible that we may need an extra powerful elemental stone," She suggested, "Something powerful beyond our wildest imaginations."

"And where are we going to get an elemental stone like that?!" Chante grumbled, "From your ass?"

"Not exactly." An unknown voice called from the side. All the girls turned to the source of the voice, tightening their fists as they saw a pointy-eared woman wearing a cloak.

"What's with the sudden hostility?" The woman asked mockingly, "I just overheard your fascinating conversation."

"Who are you?" The girls asked almost simultaneously, backing away.

The woman chortled, and shook her head. "That's not really important," She insisted, "What IS important is that I know how to reverse your little...fairy...condition."

Elma and Chante's eyes widened and ears twitched slightly as they leaned closer.

"That's right!" The woman chirped, almost singing, "I'm here to help you."

The woman produced a picture of a round topaz. "This is an image of what you must find; the master of all earth stones."

"It looks like every other earth stone I have ever seen in my life," Chante hissed, "What makes that stupid magic rock any better?"

"Trust me, you will be able to sense an enormous power-spike nearby it," The woman stated matter-of-factly, "After all, this IS a legendary stone."

the room was dead silent for a few seconds before Aira cleared her throat.

"And what do you have to gain from this at all?" She asked, her tone hesitant with concern.

The woman grinned ear to ear. "What? Can't a sorceress be a philanthropist too?" She asked as she stepped away, fading into nothingness as she did so.


End file.
